HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2017-11-16, Page 8PAGE 8. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2017.
Blyth -based demolition company focuses on silos
Bring it down
Michelle and Jeff Nesbitt of Blyth are now working to take down silos all across southwestern
Ontario. Jeff learned the trade from his father, Murray. The business now takes down as many
as 30 silos per year. (Lisa B. Pot photo)
By Lisa B. Pot
Special to The Citizen
For an explosion, it was just so
calm. I guess that's the result when
a plan is perfectly executed. Yet,
when dynamite is involved, don't
you expect a little bit of drama?
"No thank you", says Jeff
Nesbitt, owner of Nesbitt
Demolition, a Blyth -based
business that focusses on bringing
down old silos in Southwestern
Ontario.
Chatting from his home in
October, he recalled how quickly
and cleanly an old silo at a farm
owned by Jeff and Linda VanWyk
and managed by son Eric, came
down in September. I was in
attendance as well, curious to see
the action, remembering back
when I was a kid to when my dad
had a silo blown up behind the
barn. It was loud! Dramatic! With
lots of dust and debris flying
around. Or was it? Perhaps just to
a young child's perception.
At the VanWyk demolition, Eric
VanWyk pushed the detonator,
there was a loud bang and then the
silo neatly toppled over exactly
where it was supposed to. It was
kind of...anticlimactic.
"That's how it almost always
goes," says Jeff, a mine -worker
who runs Nesbitt Demolition part-
time in an area from Shelburne to
Woodstock. In 2015, his best year,
he demolitioned 28 silos.
"I don't want the silo to fall
straight down. I like them to fall
over nicely," says Jeff. "Now,
some fall flat into smaller chunks
but this one (VanWyks) had a fair
bit of rebar in it so it held its shape
at the bottom."
The amount of rebar, the quality
of cement, how much (if any)
material is in the silo and the
condition of the concrete are all
factors in determining how it falls
and how much explosive to use for
the demolition.
The "knowing" is what he
learned growing up from his
father, Murray Nesbitt, who ran
CN Demo with his partner, Al
Caldwell. At their busiest, in the
1990s, they took down 60 silos.
Jeff grew up helping his dad, who,
in turn, learned from his father.
These days, it's Jeff's son Brody
who, of his three children, is
particularly interested in the
family business. Despite the use of
dynamite, it seems remarkably
safe.
"I know my wife used to worry.
I had to call her as soon as the job
was done to let her know I was
okay," said Jeff. "So I knew it was
important I get her out there to see
how it was done."
If Jeff can't find a friend, or one
of his children to help, Michelle
now comes out to assist and while
she still has some stress when a
silo is very close to an adjacent
building, she's "finally confident
that I know what I'm doing,"
laughs Jeff.
Working with explosives since
he was a child, he is confident
himself. "I've been doing this all
my life. The worst that's ever
happened was when I was standing
too close taking a video and a
piece of debris (a rock) fell on my
arm."
He remembers as a boy his dad's
inkt a
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windshield cracking up a few
times but says his dad had a habit
of parking too close to the
demolition.
Murray was quite a character
and Jeff enjoyed working with
him. In 2007, when the minimum
requirements for explosive storage
magazines changed, the company
had to make a significant
investment to upgrade their
magazine. Al Caldwell decided to
retire from demolition so Murray
and Jeff became partners. When
Murray died in a mine accident in
2009, Jeff became the sole owner
and changed the name to Nesbitt
Demolition.
These days, becoming an
explosives technician requires a
three-year apprenticeship but back
then, Jeff was able to take a test
and grandfather in.
He says his work is always a
conversation starter. The idea of
blowing things up sounds like an
exciting job, and it is, but Jeff
recounts how even his son, who is
12, is already so used to the work
that he's cleaning up before the
silo has even toppled. It's just what
they do.
Over 95 per cent of their work is
bringing down silos. Other things
Jeff has blown up include tree
stumps and beaver dams (not
always effective as the beavers
soon get to work rebuilding).
Sometimes he gets called to a
gravel pit where excavation has
unearthed a rock so large and hard,
it's immovable. Dynamite takes
care of it.
Dynamite is still a core material
when it comes to demolition.
However, a material known as
ANFO, which is a combination of
diesel fuel and fertilizer in the
right mixture is used to maximize
explosive power and reduce his
costs.
ANFO is an acronym for the
most popular blasting agents in use
today. It stands for ammonium
nitrate and fuel oil; and it is a
simple mixture of the two.
Ammonium nitrate is an oxidizing
agent that does more than just
supply oxygen to support the
combustion of a fuel, it's also an
explosive substance.
"It's the same material that was
used in the Oklahoma City
bombing in 1995. It's also used in
pipe bombs," explains Jeff. "It's
cheaper and you get more bang for
your buck."
When it comes to the process of
demolition, Jeff says everyone
assumes there's lot of drilling
involved. While he does have a
drill, silos don't generally require
drilling.
Instead, he picks a spot where he
wants the silo to fall. Then
measurements are taken to
determine distance. Explosives are
laid in a manner to take a "big
half' out of the side, much like
taking a notch out of a tree, to get
the silo to fall where he wants it
go.
The explosives are covered with
sand that's been screened to
remove all the rocks. The sand
keeps the blast contained and it's
why viewers don't see a huge
explosion. The sand also muffles
the sound.
A cap is used to activate the
explosives. The cap itself is
detonated with an electrical charge
that runs down a lead wire once the
button on the detonator is pushed
by Jeff, his helper or the farmer
who has hired him to take down
the silo. It's only pushed once
everyone is standing a safe
distance away.
The whole process takes about
two hours, with the farmer or
excavating company in charge of
bringing in both the screened sand
and cleaning up afterwards.
"A lot of times a farmer has
decided to clean up some old
buildings and an old silo and
they've hired an excavation
company. I'm then subcontracted
to take the silo down and they will
continue clean up after it has fallen
over," explains Nesbitt.
"I get to make a big mess and
leave!" says Jeff.
He says some companies will
try to take down a silo with a
high hoe excavator.
"I hear stories from these guys
who say they used to do it with a
high hoe, ramming at it until it
starts to topple, then driving away
Continued on page 9
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